121QA Identifies the Substantial Differences Between Buyer & Seller Testimonials

The hard reality is 45% of future business comes from an agent’s current clients – but only 3 in 10 recommend them. The words true fans use to describe their agents offer rich insight into what drives buyer and seller recommendations.

The 121QA word study was conducted in 2020 and 2022 – straddling the pandemic. In all 7,294 words and phrases were analyzed.

A random sample of 2,000 testimonials from 1,000 buyers and 1,000 sellers collected between September and December were analysed in each year. True fans were identified by their intent to recommend and permissions given to publish their comments. The test sample consisted of 1,066 buyers and 1,121 sellers.

The analysis was done in two stages – a qualitative sort that grouped words and phrases into categories followed by statistical analyses of significance for each of the buyer and seller groups.

In All 1,280 Unique Words Were Used by Buyers:
1,099 by Sellers

1.

Sellers complete more surveys, include comments more often and give more permissions to publish. Their testimonials are shorter, less personal and more process oriented.

2.

Seller comments focus on the financial outcomes.  They are driven by needs not wants. The agent role is that of Fiduciary: ethically and legally bound to make sound, sensible decisions in the client’s best interest.

3.

Buyer testimonials catalog their personal journeys.  They are guided by wants not needs. The agent is viewed as a Sherpa: an expert in the local area who serves as a guide through the process.

4.

2022 changes vs 2020 – Buyers expressed a need for deeper agent involvement and empathy in helping them negotiate a tough seller’s market. Power words [helpful, quick response] increased and new words appeared [eager to please, great negotiator, works hard, resourceful]. Sellers expressed heightened appreciation of their agents’ responsiveness and knowledge.  Longer testimonials had more power words [knowledgeable, quick response, thorough, efficient] and new skill-based descriptors [smart, informative, positive, listened well, knew the market]

121QA is a rich data source for AI predictive analysis.  And simply incorporating these  consumer behaviours into CRM workflow will allow agents to better serve their existing clients and more efficiently attract new ones.

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